Accoridng to Engineering news, The South African civils market remains “very much under pressure”, says Group Five CEO Eric Vemer. The road-building sector is “very competitive”, with more complex infrastructure projects “very quiet”.
There is also no increased spend on water infrastructure yet, despite the drought and talk of rampant water leaks, but there is hope that this situation will improve.
The mining sector “is dead”, with Group Five busy with some work in Namibia and Burkino Faso, says Vemer.
Group Five’s manufacturing business is also finding it tough going, and is experiencing “more pressure than the previous year”.
“Generally, it is still tight out there,” notes Vemer.
Unfortunately, these conditions will see Group Five shed more jobs in its civils division, as well as in two of its manufacturing businesses, namely Everite and Group Five Pipe, with Vemer unable to currently quantify the loss.
Vemer reported in August that Group Five had cut 2 600 jobs at its civil engineering unit, leaving the current workforce at less than 2 000 people. Just over 230 of the jobs cut were permanent positions, with the remainder contract employment positions.
Sectors where business still ticked along healthily include the building sector, which remains “robust” and “surprisingly resilient”.
Group Five’s concessions business, which includes toll roads, remains robust, with an increasing pipeline of opportunities in Africa in the transport sector, says Vemer.
Africa remains an important destination for Group Five, he adds. While conditions may be tight in South Africa, there is a healthy pipeline of opportunities in the rest of the continent
